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Tuesday, April 2, 2013

"I Got You" by Split Enz

Pop Bits: This New Zealand group had been together almost a decade before finally getting this lone single on the US chart. They began to forma as a group in 1971 and after a few years they obtained a solid following in New Zealand, finally issuing their debut album "Mental Notes" in 1974. At the time, the band's prog-rock sound and theatrical stage shows made them unique, but breaking in to other countries was difficult as many people and critics just didn't get them. By 1980 their struggles and personnel changes gave them an opportunity to update the group and direction. The prog-rock took a backseat to new wave and they issued the "True Colours" album in 1980. This poppy first single brought them a significant hit and finally broke them to a larger audience, including the US. The next couple of years would be their peak commercial success, but by 1984 there were more personnel changes and the last iteration of the group issued one more LP and then called it quits.

ReduxReview: I complete forgot about this song! I remember the group name but thought that I didn't know this song, but I do. It has a chorus that is kind of hard to forget if you are into 80's new wave. I may have gotten this mixed up and thought Squeeze did this. Regardless, I like this song a lot and it just screams 80s music. Love the dark verse vs. the bright chorus too. I'm gonna have to dig back into this period of Split Enz and see if there are other gems.

ReduxRating: 7/10

Trivia: Double Shot! 1) One founding member of the group was Tim Finn. His brother Neil joined the group in the late 70s. If the brothers sound familiar, they each have had success separately and together after Split Enz. Neil went on to form Crowded House, who had a couple of hits later in the 80s. Tim went on to a solo career and had great success in New Zealand and Australia. He also joined Crowded House for one album before resuming his solo work. The pair has also recorded together as The Finn Brothers. 2) The group was original called Split Ends, but in a not to their native New Zealand, they altered the spelling to "nz" in Enz.